Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday strongly rejected US claims that Moscow is planning a “false flag” operation in eastern Ukraine as a way to justify an invasion.
Lavrov dismissed the US accusation as “total disinformation” and reaffirmed that Moscow wants a written response from Washington on the security guarantees Russia is seeking from NATO.
The claim that Russia is planning a false flag against the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region first surfaced in a CNN report. What started as a flimsy claim from an anonymous US official quickly spread through most major US media outlets and then was parroted by the White House and Pentagon.
The US has provided no evidence to back up the false flag assertion. The extraordinary claim overshadowed a report from Yahoo News that revealed the CIA has been training Ukrainian paramilitaries since 2015. One former CIA official said the training program taught the Ukrainians how to “kill Russians.”
The Biden administration is also reportedly considering backing an armed insurgency in Ukraine if Russia invades. But realistically, Moscow has little to gain from invading its neighbor.
Russia has not ruled out the possibility of sending its military to Cuba or Venezuela if the US doesn’t take its security concerns seriously. Even hinting at such a deployment is viewed as a provocation by US media, exposing a double standard since Russia’s primary concern is over the deployment of US and NATO troops near its borders.
The word “flimsy’ is used in reference to US claim concerning what Russia may or may not do, with regard to a ‘false flag’ operation, strikes me as part of the crux of the problem with the situation. I don’t wish to sound like a parrot by referring once again to the fact that wars can get started this way and we are in dangerous territory. Russia’s concerns are legitimate and they must be addressed. In addition, what the US/NATO moves are, in terms of deployment need to be made crystal clear. The entire situation is flimsy and dangerous. The Russian concerns are entirely valid. WARS can get started this way!
Agree Donna! At this point I have more faith in the Russian government than our own, considering the lies about Saddam Hussein’s “WMDs” and the Gulf of Tonkin “incident”. For Amerikkka, war is profit, and forget the so-called collateral damage that will inevitably occur.
This time WE might be collateral damage, and it’ll be our own damned fault. But I always said that a war on US soil might turn us into a less warmongering people.
Again, it needs to be remembered in these articles that Russian General Shoigu already warned weeks ago that US mercenaries were delivering chemical supplies to the vicinity of the Donbass in apparent preparation for a “false flag” attack to be blamed on Russia or the Donbass militia. This is part of the context of this issue and should be referenced in any article on the matter.
Yes, the Shoigu statement should be referenced. But it should also be taken with a certain amount of salt. The US is not the only regime that makes false, self-serving claims in situations of conflict.